Reversible propeller with variable pitch



April 1943- v c. HAUTIER 2,440,046

REVERSIBLE PROPELLER WITH VARIABLE PITCH Fil ed Nov. 24, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 gl f .April'20, 1943; H E'R 2,440,046

REVERSIBLE PROPELLER WITH VARIABLE PITCH Filed Nov. 24, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 20, 1948. c. HAUTIER HEVERS IBLE PROFELLER WITH VARIABLE PITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 3' Filed Nov. 24, 193'? Patented Apr. 20,1948

STATES PATENT OFFICE Camille Hautier,.Boulogne-sur-Seine,.France s Application Novemlier24, 1937; SerialNo'. 176,367

' IhFranceNOVemIiePZB-L 1936 Section: 3;.BublitrLaw 690 August s, 1946 Patent. expires November 26, 1956 I 3'Claims.

1i 'Ilhe present. invention. relates to. propellers wherein the. pitch. of. the .blades. may be varied. More specificallythe. inventionpertains: to a propeller having. gears associated therewith for changing the pitchnf the. blades. from. a. driving.

position. to. a neutral position and to a-braklng positioneven thoughthe. propeller shaft is adapted..to.-be:drivenlin. only one. direction.

ne.of.' theobjectsof. the invention. isto provide. a. support. fortherotatable blades that. isparticularly simple: andofrugged construction which. will. prevent possible damagev of the pro;- peller as-a resultof centrifugal forcesset up duringrhigh otatingspeeds. I

The. propeller. hereinafter described isdesigned principally. for. use in connection with airplanes.

However, the propeller is. equally adaptable to the-propulsion. of. boats. and ships. Further objects and-features-of. the. invention Will be. more apparent to. those. skilled. in the. art upon. a con.- sideration; oflthe accompanying. drawings and the following description wherein several. exemplary embodiments. on the invention are. disclosed.

In thedrawings:

Figure. l isa. side. elevational. view wherein the upper halffisshownin section-through the longit'udihal axis of the. driving shaft. Fig-.2. isasectibnaliviiawwith par-ts brokenaway of the upper; portion. of? the. propeller. of Fig. 1v takenfrom. adirection. at right anglesto that of the View ihFlg..1l

Fig. a ls. a. plan view showing: one of the propeller blades in section and the exterior of the.

casing covering. the pitch varyingmechanism.

Fig. 4.. is. a diagram indicating. the. positions. to which .theblad'es may bemoved.

Fig.5 is'a view principally insection illustrating a. modification of the blade mounting. shown in Fig. 1 andthe means. for actuating. blade rot'atinggears.

Fig-6is a cross sectional'view taken on the line VII-Vlofll'i'g;

Whilethe. propeller arrangement illustrated, in the drawings. and hereinafter described concerns a. propeller having two blades it is understood that the pit'chvaryi'ngmechanism canbe adapted to a'prop'ell'er havingja-great'er'number of blades.

With reference. to Fig. 4 the neutral or nopitch" position is indicated by the line OAl The driving position is indicated by the line OB while 2, the braking or reversedpitch position is indicatedby the line OD.

Referring particularly to. Figs. 1 and 2 there is illustrated? at I a driving shaft which extends froma prime. mover (not shown). On the shaft I a sleeve 2 is mounted for axial displacement. That is to say, the'sleeve 2 can bemoved longitudinally of the shaft and the sleeve is adapted to be moved by a collar. 4! havingan annular groove'B therein.

A beveled gear'wheel 5' is rotatably mounted on the shaft I and fixed' thereon against axial movement by meansof-the casing 'l and an annu-- lar flange 6a on the shaft I. Anotherbeveled" gear 4 ismo'unted to be rotatable on the sleeve 2 and prevented from moving axially'by means ol the casing 1. Each of the gear wheelsl and 5 is provided withse'ctors having gear teethtfi and 3| and these teeth mesh with the gear teeth of the beveled'gears lll and H- Thecasing- 1 is formed of two partsand adapted to-be" clampedtogether by means-of the bolts 32to provide hub socketsfor thepropeller blades 8'and 9i The inner ends of the propeller blades are provided with annular grooves 33 into-which are fitted ribs- 34 carried by each half: sleeve lit and lb. Each propeller blade is additionally se curedinthe casing by means of a thrust bearing 36 and a nut 31'- which is utilized to secure the beveled gears l0 and H to the respective inner ends of the blades.

The gear teeth 30 and 3! of the gear wheels 4 and 5 engage theteeth of thebeVeIed gears it? and H at"diametrically opposite points sorthat by turning the gear 4 for example thebla'desflland. 9'willibe rotated about their'aXesto-vary the pitch of the blades. The blades 8 andi9 may be-rotate'd in an. opposite direction around their respective axes. by turning the beveled gear 5 in the same direction. The. rotation of the gear wheels 4 and. 5 is accomplished by means of the member 3. which is secured to the slidable sleeve 2'. The member 3 consists of projections which are ad'aptedto engage the axially extending teeth 4a. and 5a of the gear wheels 4 and 5 respectively. The interior of the sleeve 2 is provided with grooves 38 as shown particularly in Fig. 2". The. grooves 38 extend in an angular direction with respect to the axisof the shaft Iv and these grooves are engaged'by pins 39fi'xedto the driving shaft.

Thus when the sleeve 2 is moved in an axial direction by means of the collar 4| the projections of the member 3 will be moved into engagement with either the teeth 4a or 5a of the gear wheels 4 and 5 and after such engagement the gear wheel will be rotated to vary the pitch of the blades 8 and 9 according to the developed length of the teeth sectors one of which is shown in Fig. 2.

The propeller blades 8 and 9 are driven by the shaft I through the sleeve 2 and the teeth 4a or 5a since the pins 39 engage the sleeve 2. Thus either the gear wheel 4 or 5 transmits motion to the propeller blades after the sectors having gear teeth 30 and 3| have turned the gears l0 and H to the full extent of the gear teeth 30 and 3|. In other words the gear teeth carried by the gears 4 and 5 extend only over a portion of the circumference of each gear wheel as shown in Fig. 2

and when the end of these gear sectors is reached rotation of the gears 10 and II and rotation of the propeller blades around the axis thereof ceases and the blades 8 and 9 are bodily whirled by the energy imparted to the shaft 1.

A modification of the pitch varying mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 5 wherein the gears 40 and 50 are similar to the gears 4 and 5 except that the gear teeth at the hubs thereof are similar to a ring gear and adapted to be engaged by the radial projections 11 and b carried by the sleeve 2. In this modification the inner end of the blade 8a is threaded into a tubular extension 44 of the beveled gear 10a and the blade 8a is further prevented from axial movement with respect to the beveled gear Illa by means of a Washer 42 and a nut 43. Thus by turning the gear wheel Illa the sleeve 44 will turn in the two halves 1c and 1d of the casing. The sleeve 44 is provided with a projection 46 which is adapted to move in a circumferentially extending groove 41.

The projections a and b may be regarded as the teeth of gear wheels rigidly fixed to the sleeve 2. The projections a and b slope in opposite axial directions so that on longitudinal displacement of the sleeve 2 these projections will engage the teeth 48 carried by the gear wheels 40 and 50. The sleeve 2 is fixed against rotation with respect to the shaft 1 by any suitable conventional means (not shown) and upon axial movement thereof will cause the propeller blade Ba to be rotated about its axis so as to vary the pitch thereof.

The propeller blades in Fig. 5 are also driven by the shaft I through the sleeve 2 and the projections a or 1) since the sleeve is arranged for axial movement only on the shaft l. Rotation of the sleeve 2 is thus transmitted to the propeller hub by the gears 40 or 50 and the projection 46 engaging one end of the circumferentially arranged groove 41.

Any mechanism may be provided for shifting the collars 4| of Figs. 1 and 5 and a suitable arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 5 wherein the arms 23 extend into the groove 6. These arms are adapted to be moved by the pistons 22 which are adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinders 21 by means of fluid pressure which may be directed into the pipe 5| and exhaust through the pipe 52. The fiuid pressure moving in such a direction will cause the sleeve 2 to be shifted to the left and when an opposite pitch of the propeller blades is desired the direction of the fiuid may be reversed so as to enter the pipe 52 under pressure which will cause the pistons 22 to be moved to 4 the right and the fluid may then escape through the pipe 5 l The socket portion 1d of the casing may be provided with an annular extension 20 so as to provide a brake drum for the propeller. However, this feature forms no part of the invention,

While the invention has been described with reference to the specific embodiments shown in the drawings it is apparent that modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a variable pitch propeller, a shaft for driving the propeller, a hub-like casing mounted on the shaft, a propeller blade mounted with one end in the hub-like casing for rotation about the axis thereof, a beveled gear arranged in the easing adapted to rotate the blade about the axis thereof, a pair of beveled gears meshing with said first gear at diametrically opposite points, said last mentioned gears being mounted to turn about said shaft and each having teeth adjacent the hub portions thereof, means intermediate said last mentioned gears movable axially with respect to said shaft for selectively engaging the hub teeth of either of said pair of gears, means for transmitting rotary motion of said shaft to said axially movable means, means associated with said first mentioned means adapted to rotate one of the gears of said pair upon engagement thereof during the axial movement of said first mentioned means whereby the propeller blade is rotated about the axis thereof and means limiting the rotation of the first mentioned bevel gear.

2. In a variable pitch propeller, a shaft for driving the propeller, a, hub-like casing mounted on the shaft, a propeller blade mounted with one end in the hub-like casing for rotation about the axis thereof, a beveled gear arranged in the casing adapted to rotate the blade about the axis thereof, a pair of beveled gears meshing with said first gear at diametrically opposite points, said last mentioned gears being mounted to turn about said shaft and each having teeth adjacent the hub portions thereof, means intermediate said last mentioned gears movable axially with 're-' spect to said shaft for selectively engaging the hub teeth of either of said pair of gears, said means having grooves therein extending angularly with respect tothe axis of said shaft; pins carried by the shaft engaging said grooves whereby the first mentioned means is rotated aboutsaid shaft during axial movement thereof so as to rotate each gear of said pair in an opposite direction upon engagement of the teeth thereof and means limiting the rotation of said first bevelled gear.

3. In a variable pitch propeller, a shaft .for driving the propeller, a hub-like casing mounted on the shaft, a propeller blade mounted with one end in the hub-like casing for rotation'about the,

carried by the first mentioned means extending in a longitudinal angular direction with respect to the shaft, another set of radial projections carried by said first mentioned means extending in an opposite angular direction with respect to the 5 shaft, whereby said projections engage the teeth of one gear of each pair upon axial movement of said first mentioned means to rotate said propeller blade about the axis thereof, a projection moved by the first gear, and means carried by the 10 casing limiting the movement of said projection.

CAMILLE HAUTIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 16 file of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wiegand July 9., 1929 Morris June 17, 1930 McCollough Oct. 10, 1933 Briner Nov. 27, 1934 McDougall Jan. 21, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec, 11, 1919 Great Britain Feb, 26, 1931 France Aug. 6, 1934 

